Must-Read: Aaron Carroll: So What Did the Medicaid Expansion Actually Do?

Must-Read: Aaron Carroll: So What Did the Medicaid Expansion Actually Do?: “In 2014, only 26 states and the District of Columbia chose to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions for low-income adults…

…Laura Wherry and Sarah Miller…. By the second half of 2014, adults in the expansion states had seen their health insurance coverage increase 7.4%; Medicaid coverage increased 10.5%. This isn’t surprising, as increased coverage was the main intent of the Affordable Care Act. Coverage was found to have ‘improved’ as well (7.1%)…. In Medicaid expansion states, there were increased in physician visits (6.6%), hospital stays (2.4%), rates of diagnoses of diabetes (5.2%) and high cholesterol (5.7%). Of course, this is an observational study…. Insurance coverage is just the first step in improving access. What this study adds are some data showing that expanding Medicaid through the ACA resulted in increased coverage, improved coverage, more physician visits, and more disease diagnosed…